St. George in Georgia - in Freedom Square

A statue of St. George slaying the dragon is situated prominently in the middle of Freedom Square in Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi.

Freedom Square, or Liberty Square, was called Pashkevich-Erivanskaya Square in the 19th century in honour of Ivan Paskevich, a Ukranian general of the Russian Imperial Army (georgiaabout.com).

When the Russian Empire collapsed, it was named Freedom Square in 1918, but then it was named Beria Square in 1941.

A statue of Lenin was erected in 1956, and the name became Lenin Square until 1991 when the statue was removed after Georgia’s independence from the Soviet Union. And the name of the square was once again Freedom Square.

In 2006 a Freedom Monument was erected, commonly called the St. George Statue. It is St. George slaying the dragon. Georgian sculptor, Zurab Tsereteli, built the golden statue.

The legend of St. George goes back to the 10-11th century and the time of the Crusaders, and different countries have different versions of the tale. In Georgia, George was probably a soldier in the fictional city, Lasia, under the emperor Selinus. To protect themselves from attack from the resident dragon, the citizens fed it sheep, and when there were no more sheep, they fed children to the dragon (chosen by lottery). When the king’s daughter, Sabra, was chosen, he pledged all of his gold, silver, and some of his kingdom, to the person who could save her.

George, on his horse, charged at the dragon and slayed it with his long lance, tipped with a gold cross. Hence, the statue of St. George slaying the dragon is gold, and is erected on a slender column and pedestal. There are many pictures and icons of St. George in Georgia, but the St. George Statue is the most well known.

georgiaabout.com

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